Topic: patent

In what could be a harbinger of the U.S. Apple v. Samsung trial, a South Korean court on Friday found both companies were guilty of infringing on each others' patents, banning sales of Apple's iPhone 4 and iPad 2 as well as a number of Samsung smartphones and tablets.

After a month of presenting the jury with their respective cases, attorneys for Apple and Samsung spent their final allotted minutes in closing arguments this week, each warning that jury's decision will have far reaching consequences on the future of the American tech industry.

Apple's iOS 6 will bring compatibility for "Made for iPhone" hearing aids when the mobile OS hits iDevices this fall, and two new U.S. patent applications give a peek at what users can look forward to as the technology matures.

It was revealed in court documents filed on Friday that Kodak's patent auction will reach a final hearing on Aug. 30, pointing to a possible sale a week earlier where the company will determine which bidder, if any, has won the rights to the valuable digital imaging portfolio.

In an early-morning order on Tuesday, Apple v. Samsung presiding Judge Lucy Koh ruled that the jury will not hear that both parties may have inadvertently, or purposefully, destroyed email evidence which may have been pertinent to the case.

Apple on Tuesday was granted a patent that allows users to skip unwanted audio and video broadcast segments such as commercials with on-device content like songs, podcasts or other media, possibly hinting at technology headed to the battle for the living room.

In Motorola's second U.S. International Trade Commission complaint against Apple, the company asserts a number of products infringe on seven owned patents pertaining to wireless technologies like location-based reminders, multimedia applications and managing messages and content.

Apple and Samsung CEOs met on Monday in a final attempt to resolve issues related to the ongoing patent trial in California, however one of the company's counsel informed presiding Judge Lucy Koh the talks yielded no resolution.

During opening arguments of an appeals court hearing on Monday, Apple counsel said Samsung sought to steal iPhone market share with its Galaxy Nexus smartphone by copying a number of the Apple handset's features including a patented unified search invention.

Apple and Samsung on Saturday said no progress was made in narrowing claims against each other in the two companies' ongoing high-stakes California patent trial, making the possibility of a jury verdict all the more likely.

Both parties rested their case in the Apple v. Samsung trial on Friday, bringing an end to the testimony portion of the proceedings ahead of closing arguments and jury deliberation set to take place next week.

Samsung on Thursday rested its case in the Apple v. Samsung trial, concluding its phase of the trial with a pair of expert witnesses who believe Apple could owe $421.8 million in royalties over five patents owned by the South Korean company.

After Samsung wrapped up its case on Thursday, an obviously frustrated Judge Lucy Koh jibed Apple counsel when presented with 75 pages worth of briefings for its last remaining witnesses, alluding that the lawyer was "smoking crack" with the long list of 22 people.

An expert witness called by Samsung has testified that, according to his calculations, Samsung's US profit margins were 12 percent rather than 35.5, meaning Apple's damages should be limited to $519 million, well below the minimum of $2.5 billion it is demanding.